


Not Everything is Crummy

by gingayellow



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-19
Updated: 2018-07-19
Packaged: 2019-06-13 02:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15353868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gingayellow/pseuds/gingayellow
Summary: Shiro's having a bad brain day. Keith does what he can to make it better. [Shiro/Keith, fluff, cw for panic attacks, AU]





	Not Everything is Crummy

Title: Not Everything is Crummy  
Fandom: Voltron: Legendary Defender  
Characters/Pairing: Shiro/Keith  
Rating: PG-13  
Disclaimer: Not mine, anything mentioned here by name isn't mine  
Warnings: Shiro’s dealing with the aftermath of a panic attack  
Notes: For hc_bingo, prompt is “lost childhood.” There are indeed TNG references, because this is me. I’m not too thrilled with this, but I needed a break from the Sheith Pirate Romance AU that I’m writing, so.

\--

“Shiro, darlin’?” Keith unlocked the door, leaving his work boots by the door. “I’m home for lunch.” Weird. Usually Shiro was either making lunch in the kitchen or watching his old sci-fi shows in the living room. Then again, he did say that he was going to the grocery store. Maybe he’d got caught up in lunch traffic on the way home. Shrugging, Keith grabbed a meal bar, inhaled it, and was heading to the bedroom and its attached bath for a quick, and—

Oh no.

Shiro was curled up on the floor, back against the bed, too lost in himself to notice that Keith was home.

This wasn’t the first time this had happened, so Keith had a working idea of what to do next. He knelt down so he could look at Shiro properly. “Shiro. It’s Keith. You’re fine, I promise.” He reached out—and pulled away when Shiro snarled at him.

“Don’t **touch** me.” Shiro couldn’t back away, so he opted for hiding his face in his forearms. “Just—just let me **be**.”

“Okay.” Keith stood up, taking multiple steps back. It killed him, but Shiro’s feelings came first. “Just let me know what you need.”

Shiro didn’t say anything for what felt like forever. It took everything Keith had not to do **something**.

“I. I’m sorry,” Shiro finally whispered, looking up at Keith. His eyes were red-rimmed. “And yes, I do need to apologize. Needing a moment to collect myself doesn’t give me a right to yell at you.”

Keith did his best to smile. “Only you would be worried about politeness right now.” He swallowed. “Is it okay if I sit next to you?”

“Y-yeah.” Keith sat down on the floor again, close (but not too close) to Shiro. Shiro wiped at his eyes, taking in a shuddery breath.

Keith took a moment to choose his words. He wasn’t going to upset Shiro again. “Was there something that really upset you, or—”

“No.” Shiro stared up at the ceiling. “I just woke up feeling crummy. I guess all the little things this week just built up. Trying to figure out the bills, my doctor’s appointments, me getting worked up about your test flight next week.” He huffed softly. “You know fun stuff like that.”

Blast it, he should have noticed that Shiro seemed off this morning, but he’d been so worried. “Shiro. Tell me what I can do.” His voice was raw, but he didn’t care. “Please.”

Shiro smiled weakly. “Love, you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met, but you can’t fix my brain.” He inched a little closer to Keith. “Although I could go for a cheese pizza… aw, geez, I forgot about the store.” Shiro groaned, resting his head in his metal hand. “Gimme ten minutes, and I’ll get going. I promise.”

Keith stood up. “Or I could go after work.” He offered Shiro a hand.

Shiro took said hand. “Keith, I know you’re swamped with work. I don’t want to put you out.”

“You’re not. And ‘sides, this is something I can do for you—” He fell silent as Shiro hugged him, and he hugged Shiro back.

And while it was tempting to just rest in his beloved’s arms, he was needed elsewhere. “I’m gonna grab a shower and head back to work.” He took Shiro’s face in his hands and smiled. “You just focus on relaxing, okay?”

Shiro didn’t smile back, but he leaned into Keith’s touch, closing his eyes. “I’ll try.”

\--

After finishing his shift (and a very brief conversation with Katie Holt, with a promise to email her later that night), Keith headed to the first big box store on his way home (he was hoping that maybe he’d also find a DVD of that one show Shiro liked, with the bald guy in red spandex, because good lord Shiro needed a treat today). The frozen pizza and other supplies were easily found, but nothing in the electronics section looked like it would appeal to Shiro. Of course, if Shiro knew what he was doing, he’d probably just say that he was fine, he wasn’t a kid anymore. 

Except... except Keith was pretty sure Shiro had never had the chance to be a kid.

Keith only knew what Shiro told him about his past. Losing his parents when he as a baby, losing the grandfather who raised him when he was sixteen. The car accident that took his arm when he was nineteen. And at age twenty-one, he’d fallen in love with Keith, who was then a college sophmore with lots (and lots) of issues, while trying to balance his own school and work load—and helped Keith as he got his degree, then a job at the Garrison. But Keith didn’t need to know the details to understand that Shiro was someone who had to grow up too quickly for his own good—which was probably why he’d watch all those cartoons and sci-fi shows when he was alone or thought Keith was asleep. Or would go on and on about how it was silly when he bought himself a toy or DVD from one of those shows. Which Keith thought was foolish—as long as it didn’t hurt them financially, Shiro had every right to cope with a lost childhood by reclaiming tiny bits and pieces of it with his hard-earned money, then so be it. 

He eyed a cheerful looking stuffed black cat (with little white paws) critically. Hrn. It wasn’t usually what Shiro would get for himself, but there was something in its cheesy grin that reminded him so strongly of Shiro…

\--

“I’m home,” Keith said. He placed his bags by the door, then unlaced his boots.

“Keith!” Shiro’s eyes were still puffy, but he was smiling, and moving around. “Here, let me help you.”

“No, you’re resting, remember?” Keith picked up the bags. “’Sides, I got you a surprise.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah.” Suddenly embarrassed, Keith handed him the blasted thing. “I know stuffed animals aren’t really your thing, but it reminded me of you, and—”

“I love it.”

“Really?”

“Yes.” Shiro tucked the toy cat under his left arm. “His name is Keith Junior, and he loves naps, soap operas, and leaving us his murder trophies by the door.”

“Um. Thanks for naming him after me, I guess?”

“You’re very welcome, Keith.” Shiro kissed him gently. Then he kissed him again—slow, firm, metal hand resting on Keith’s chest. “Seriously, thank you,” he breathed. “I think I needed a reminder that not everything is crummy.”

Keith kissed him back. “Anytime.”

\--

Final Notes: All the fics where Shiro gets Keith a plush hippo are ultra valid, but I wanted to turn the tables, and let Keith get Shiro a plush cat. ;P


End file.
